Alonso's engine and gearbox survived Melbourne

The engine, gearbox and monocoque aboard Fernando Alonso's otherwise-mangled McLaren-Honda survived his famous crash in Melbourne last Sunday. Marca, a Spanish sports daily, estimated the damage caused by the shattered carbon-fibre and other disposable components at EUR 300,000, after Alonso barrel-rolled through the gravel after a 300kph impact with Esteban Gutierrez.

But the report said the only real damage to the actual chassis was the mounting points of the suspension, meaning it could return to service later this season. "The engine and gearbox were also spared," added Marca, which is good news for Alonso amid the tight long-life restrictions on those components.

Max Mosley, the former FIA president, said the most important thing is that F1's safety advances saved Alonso's life. "Those sort of serious racing accidents, you do expect the driver to walk away," he told the Times. "That wouldn't have been the case 20 years ago. It was quite an impressive crash," added Mosley. "I am very much in favour of the halo. Eventually they will come up with a solution. It's the sort of thing that ought to be done."

Meanwhile, Italy's Autosprint reports that the engine aboard Kimi Raikkonen's flaming Ferrari last Sunday has apparently also survived, as it was reportedly a turbo overheating problem. "If we had seen on the telemetry that it was a problem with the power unit," confirmed team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, "we would have asked Kimi to immediately turn it off rather than have him return to the box." (GMM)

Replies (2)

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  • I must admit this surprises me greatly. The car looked so torn that it made mashed potatoes look more intact, yet somehow, most of the chassis, the engine and the gearbox survived. Pretty impressive.

    • + 0
    • Mar 23 2016 - 15:28
  • k5enny

    Posts: 1

    It appear that Max Mosley is not to hot on F1 history...
    "Those sort of serious racing accidents, you do expect the driver to walk away," he told the Times. "That wouldn't have been the case 20 years ago. It was quite an impressive crash,"

    Almost exactly 20 years ago Martin Brundle "walked away" from an even bigger accident!

    www.dailymotion.co(...)e-full-replays_auto

    • + 0
    • Mar 28 2016 - 17:19

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